Phantom Rider (Old West, Hero Datafile)
PHANTOM RIDER Carter Slade secret Carter Slade was born and raised in Ohio in the mid-1800s, along with his brother Lincoln. Eventually Carter decided to move out west to the new territories, in order to become a schoolteacher at the new settlement of Bison Bend, in Montana. However, when he had nearly arrived he came upon a group of what appeared to be Indians slaughtering helpless homesteaders. Though he was untrained in using a gun he had been a boxing champion in college and, at any rate, could not allow an atrocity to go unfought. Riding into the fray he discovered the attackers were not Indians but rather white men dressed up to appear as Indians. They were cattle herders upset at settlers coming in and taking what they regarded as their land, despite the government's role in placing settlers. Though he fought bravely, Carter was eventually defeated, shot multiple times and slowly dying from his injuries. It was then that Jamie Jacobs, the teenage son of the settlers who had been murdered, emerged from his hiding place and found him. Surmising what had happened, Jamie managed to get Carter onto a horse and set out to find help. However, he was traveling in the wrong direction and after many long hours collapsed to the ground. However a group of friendly Indians had been watching and took Jacobs and Slade to their medicine man, Flaming Star. Flaming Star had, many years before, seen a shooting star fall from the sky, bringing with it a bounty of phosphorescent dust. Flaming Star took this as a sign from the Great Spirit, and learned that a champion would one day be sent to him, to fight injustice using the glowing dust and a special cape he had prepared. Flaming Star prayed, chanted and prepared potions and herbs for three days, but was about to give up on Carter when suddenly Carter's fever broke and he awoke, seemingly fully restored to health. It was then that Flaming Star realized Carter Slade was the champion sent to him to fight injustice. He gave Carter the cloak he had fashioned, which was reversible and had a pitch black lining to complement the bright, white outer side. He also gave Carter all of the phosphorescent dust and led him to an untameable white horse that Carter managed to secure, and which he named Banshee for its distinctive neigh. Carter then created an entire costume to complement the cloak and horse, and christened himself the Ghost Rider, though later others began calling him other names, such as Night Rider and finally the Phantom Rider. His first act as the Rider was to bring the men responsible for killing Jamie Jacobs' parents to justice, a group of cattle herders led by a man named Jason Bartholomew. He then set about helping the folk of Bison Bend erect a schoolhouse and took Jamie under his wing as his ward. Over the next decade Carter Slade rode the West fighting evil with Bison Bend, Colorado as his base of operations, fighting and defeating a number of would-be criminals, including the Sting-Ray, who formerly had fought the Rawhide Kid under the name Scorpion. In time, Carter began to fall in love with a young woman by the name of Natalie Brooks, sister of the sheriff, Ben Brooks. However, any relationship between them was complicated by the fact that Ben Brooks irrationally believed the Phantom Rider to be an evil man, bent on taking over the territory. Additionally, Natalie was engaged to be married to a man named Clay Riley, whom Slade would eventually find out was the criminal known as the Tarantula. Slade's final adventure as a living being began when his brother, U.S. Marshal Lincoln Slade, came to town. Slade was investigating a series of disappearances that had struck Bison Bend, wherein every notable man in the town save Carter and the new preacher, Reverend Reaper, had gone missing. Lincoln felt the Reverend would be the next target and so kept an eye on him. It turned out that the Reverend was in fact the leader of the gang, and Lincoln followed him to his hideout, where Sheriff Brooks and the other men of Bison Bend were bound. Lincoln Slade began fighting the Reaper's gang when Carter,as the Phantom Rider, showed up and joined in. They managed to free Brooks and the others and had defeated all of the gang except for Reaper himself. In a last-ditch attempt to save himself Reverend Reaper shot out a wooden crossbeam holding the cave ceiling up, causing tons of rock and earth to begin sliding towards Lincoln Slade. The Phantom Rider then hurled himself at his brother to save him, succeeding in doing so but wound up crushed by the avalanche himself. Lincoln heard a voice coming from the rubble and pulled the Rider free. When the Rider asked him to remove his mask, he saw it was his own brother, Carter. Carter said goodbye and then died. Lincoln took his brother's body, stripped the costume from it, and returned it to Bison Bend, where he was buried. Jamie Jacobs attempted to take over as the Phantom Rider but was killed in his first outing, and although initially hesitant, Lincoln Slade decided to don the costume as the new Phantom Rider. Affiliations Solo D10, Buddy D6, Team D8 Distinctions Frontier Archeologist and Teacher, Phantom of the Plains, Son of the Spirits Power Sets SPIRIT OF THE RIDER Enhanced Accuracy D8, Enhanced Senses D8, Intellect D6, Stamina D6, Strength D6 SFX: Danger Sense. Spend 1 PP to add Senses (or step up by +1 if already in your pool) and reroll all dice when taking a reaction. SFX: Ghostly Glow. When creating fear-based complications, or dealing fear-related emotional stress, add a D6 and step up your effect die. SFX: Horsemanship. When creating horse-related stunts, step up or double your stunt die. SFX: Marksman. If a pool includes Weapon, you may replace two dice of equal size with one die +1 step larger. Limit: Anger of the Spirits. Gain 1 PP. Until the end of the scene, if your pool includes a Spirit of the Rider power, both 1s and 2s on your dice count as opportunities, but only 1s are excluded from being used for totals or effect dice. Limit: Exhausted. Shutdown a Spirit of the Rider power to gain 1 PP. Activate an opportunity or participate in a Transition Scene to recover. PHANTOM RIDER’S EQUIPMENT Durability D6, Light Control D6, Weapon D8 SFX: Flaming Star’s Powder. Spend 1 PP to step up a mystic asset or create a D6 mystic resource at any time during a scene. SFX: Lantern Projector. When creating deception- or fear-based assets and complications, add a D6 and step up your effect die. SFX: Lariat of Night. When creating rope-related assets or complications add a D6 and step up your effect die. SFX: Night Cloak. Spend 1 PP to ignore physical stress or trauma from arrows or small arms. SFX: Twin Six-Guns. Double Weapon for your next action. If the action fails, add a die to the doom pool equal to your power die. Limit: Out of Bullets. Shut down Weapon to gain 1 PP. Recover by taking a action against the doom pool. Limit: Gear. Shutdown a Phantom Rider’s Equipment power or SFX to gain 1 PP. Recover by activating an opportunity or during a transition scene. Specialties Combat Expert D8, Covert Expert D8, Psych Expert D8, Mystic Expert D8, Science Expert D8, Tech Expert D8, Wilderness Expert D8 Milestones FRONTIER ARCHEOLOGY 1 XP When you use your Mystic or Science specialties to research ancient ruins or artifacts. 3 XP When you spend a transition scene studying an ancient culture, or lecturing archeology. 10 XP When you publish a study about an ancient phenomenon, or choose that your findings better remain hidden forever. GHOST OF THE PRAERIE 1 XP When you Inflict a fear-related complication or fear-based emotional stress on an opponent. 3 XP When you inflict stress on a supernatural opponent. 10 XP When you either sacrifice yourself for your allies or fight until you’re the last hero to fall. Category:Datafile Category:Hero Datafiles Category:Old West